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Fall of the Ceph
'The Fall of the Ceph' was a three day period in Outland that detail the first days of Ruaumoko's return to dormancy. In this time, he violently and mercilessly laid waste to the entire Ceph race. The event can also be described as the moment the New Avengers learnt the origin of their powers. Early Mistakes For a long time, the Ceph had worshipped Ruaumoko (or the World Breaker, as they called him) as a deity who protected them. The Ceph began as an old colony of Arsinos primitives that became trapped in Outland and broke out into warring factions, and only Ruaumoko's genocide of their military saved them from destruction at their own hands. The Ceph then made two fatal mis-judgements. #'They fell into adoration of Ruaumoko's wrath.' Even after forgotting what he actually was, their entire civilisation was founded on a belief that Ruaumoko existed only to maintain the order of nature in Outland, and so devoted themselves to helping him out of fear and adoration. The reality, as later discovered by Masher, is more likely that Ruaumoko himself created Blacklight to slowly poison their minds and indoctrinate them. This way, when he returned, they would be easy to remove. #'They believed Ruaumoko was born on Outland.' The Ceph's first sighting of Ruaumoko, when he destroyed their armies, was believed by them to also be the day of his birth. In actual fact, however, Ruaumoko pre-dated the Ceph by many many thousands of years, and actually originated from Arsinos. Outland had been created by man, solely as a prison to keep Ruaumoko from destroying Arsinos in the past - there is nothing 'natural' about Outland. By believing that Ruaumoko wished to 'balance nature' in Outland, the Ceph had sealed their fate many years ago. Although they were in part correct, it was only ever the natural balance of Arsinos that Ruaumoko has ever cared about, not Outland. In fact, Ruaumoko likely despises Outland! It is likely that the Ceph were Ruaumoko's first target because their indoctination from Blacklight made them an easy target. Another less popular theory is that Ruaumoko himself was actually insulted by their worship, and wanted revenge! Return to Dormancy Not long after Ptomley's Gate re-opened, Blackrock Mountain began erupting. This was the first sign of Ruaumoko's return. Sure enough, not long afterwards, the elemental deity rose from the volcano. Excepting mercy and support, the Ceph were horrified when, instead, the demi-god reigned hell upon their cities. Day One On the first day, Ruaumoko rose from Blackrock Mountain and immediately took flight. He landed in Ratchet, the Ceph militia city, and proceeded to flood the city with molten rock. Ceph civilians were either burned alive, cemented in liquid rock or vaporised in less than a second. Military assistance was quick to be scrambled, and air support arrived in a few hours. However, Ruaumoko countered this by apparently summoning a hurricane of his own creation, which sent all Ceph fighters falling to the ground. After trampling what remained of the city, Ruaumoko took flight and inflicted an earthquake upon the ruined city, burying it. As a final insult to the Ceph, Ruaumoko obliterated their Gate. Day Two The destruction of Ratchet took an entire day, and left the Ceph without a military force to defend itself. Ruaumoko flew south to Echo Islands, where he began feasting on the Ceph's primary Blacklight source to gain power. There he would remain for at least thirty hours, consuming the toxic substance at worrying speeds. The Citadel, which stood barely ten miles from him, began a mass-evacuation order. Day Three On the evening of the final day, Ruaumoko destroyed the Citadel and flew south, to Ptomley's Gate. The New Avengers Involvement Of Gods and Men During day one, the New Avengers encountered a ghostly aparition who called herself the Mother. She explained that Ruaumoko's imprisonment has driven him mad with rage, and that only the 'total' destruction of Arsinos will now satisfy him. He himself has become a danger to nature's balance, and so the Mother gifted the New Avengers their powers in hopes that they could overcome him - the reason why this gave them an advantage was, at the time, unknown. It is believed by Masher that the Mother was a vision, or a force. Given Ruaumoko's namesake, it is entirely possible that she is in fact Ranginui, which would make Ruaumoko her son. Ambush at the Citadel After this discovery, the New Avengers (guided by Masher) headed straight for the Citadel to seek the Ceph's assistance in bringing Ruaumoko down. However, there they were ambushed by Sethos and the Steel Tide - the Lord of Amun-Seth knew that, by killing the New Avengers, it would also destroy Outland and everything inside - include Ruaumoko. Though brutal, it would save Arsinos. Masher, believing there was another way, tried to reason with Sethos but ultimately failed. The New Avengers were saved, however, by Cayden - Masher's son. Cayden had finally accepted his role as Masher's heir and taken control of his machine army in Outland, using it against Sethos. A battle broke out between Sethos and the New Avengers. Sethos had the upper hand, but Cayden eventually pushed him off the Citadel. Sethos' disappeared after the fall, assumed dead. Category:World Breaker